Sunday, May 5, 2013

Shabby Chic Style Kitchen

Seven years ago when we bought this house, my mind was full of ideas on how I was going to decorate and paint our tittle house. I painted murals on ceilings, the walls and the kitchen cabinets, replaced windows, etc.Everything turned out just like I wanted. My sense of style changed a little; now I really like white decor. All my furniture said paint me! When I painted my kitchen cabinets the first time, I wanted to match my dining table--a dark mahogany color. I found a technique on how to paint faux mahogany. It took me a long time to paint those cabinets, specially painting the grain of the wood. When I finished, the kitchen appeared smaller and dark, but I was satisfied with the look. I want to share with you how I decorated my kitchen cabinets this year. I love the beautiful Louis XVI furniture; the carved details, and the garland appliques is what inspired me. My kitchen looks more like a collage style, but the beauty of the furniture applique brings an elegant chic style to my home.

I used All-Purpose Joint Compound to make the appliques using a cake decorator kit. After the compound floral motifs are dry, primed and painted they will look just like those commercial furniture appliques. If you don't feel comfortable using a cake decorator, I am sure a good friend can help you. I encourage you to not be afraid to try new things, practice on a piece of wood.

The kitchen cabinets before.

My house was built in 1948. The kitchen cabinets are old, but I love them; it's amazing how with the magic of paint you can transform an ugly duckling into a swan. The faux mahogany turned out beautiful, but its time to paint the cabinets again and brighten up my kitchen; this color is too dark for me.

Making furniture appliques--rose motifs.

Drying the floral appliques.

My kitchen after

I really love my kitchen; the carved details all along the door panels, the swags and floral wreath.

We bought a chandelier; I didn't like the ceiling fan that I had before. The chandelier had a gold finish, but I painted it white, and wrapped it with pearls and beads.

I applied swags and floral wreath on my dishwasher. First I primed the dishwasher door panel with a primer for metal, then I decorated it with the floral motifs. After the appliques had dried completely, I primed and painted the surface. Now the dishwasher matched the rest of the cabinets. I really love how everything turned out.

Furniture appliques on my kitchen island.

The appliques bring a cottage chic elegant style to my kitchen. I didn't want to make it look faded because I wanted it to happen with time.

My next project will be focused on the counter top of the kitchen; I don't like it.

Pearl and beads chandelier.

I used 4 m m pearls and gray beads for this project, and pearl buttons.

6 comments:

OMG they came out stupendous! I LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM ! Those appliques are wonderful...I thought I was done here with decor and painting, but I see I will have to do these, I've seen them before but resisted, but this display of yours is so very beautiful! thank you for sharing!

Beautiful as all you do! Unfortunately, this is not for my kitchen. I cook steak and frites often and those put grease everywhere. These beautiful ornates need too much cleaning. But I could put these in a bathroom!